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Post by DJ on Jan 21, 2018 7:44:53 GMT -8

I'm sure many of us have been in a situation where you wish some device existed to make that situation easier. For example, if I drop my phone, I have no way of picking it up and wished that I had an easy to use portable reacher/grabber that could be used by quadriplegics such as myself. I'm trying to think of common problems people with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities face on a daily basis, and find ways of fixing them. As most of you might already know, I'm in University doing an Engineering program and I'm planning on creating a startup that caters to people like us to make our lives better/easier. My goal is to make products that are affordable to everyone (unlike most things in the medical industry) and also useful/helpful.

To do this, I need your help. Post below any issues you have, in where you would require a supplementary device to assist you. It would help if you provide further detail on how the device would work, how it would look, and so on. It can have electronics or it can be mechanical, it doesn't matter. I'm open to all suggestions & ideas! Also, if you ever wished that a certain app or computer program existed, let me know about it! Once I have a list of ideas, I will discuss it with my engineering team and go from there. If you make a suggestion that we end up creating, I'll send you the finished product for free for testing & review.

****I read a while back that there is a software program (an app?) that changes Morse Code into letters of the alphabet on a computer. I used to know Morse Code. I passed the Ham Radio Operator test at five words per minute, which is very slow. Ten or fifteen words per minute is common. Though Morse Code is slow by today’s standards, it works, and it was a reliable form of communication for decades. Morse Code, being binary (dits, dahs, and spaces) can be input by many means,...a finger, hand, or arm pressure on a “code key”, the simple sound of a voice (short, long, and silence for space —it’s about timing), or a chin moving up and down against an ever-so-sensitive lever place underneath the chin. The input method could take advantage of virtually any part of the body that “moves”. This would save the voice of a person whose voice tires out from using Dragon, or a quadriplegic who happens to have a sore throat. Also, deaf and blind people can, and do, use Morse Code. Just as an example, here’s one effort:“...Then, we create a morseToAlpha method to convert a text in Morse code...”android.jlelse.eu/create-a-morse-code-converter-application-for-android-d28bbccc7257

There are still people who do Morse Code for fun.www.arrl.org/news/morse-code-at-140-wpm***Regarding the grabber idea,...I have a spice rack on my kitchen wall for which I am slowly buying a particular size of plastic bottles that I can reach and maneuver with my grabber. However, sometimes, if I don’t grab the bottle just right, the bottle slips through the grabber and falls. This isn’t a big deal, since the bottles are plastic and don’t break. But still, I’ve thought how nice it would be to have a special grabber, just for that spice rack, that would make good contact with the neck of the bottle. I could have it handy beside the rack for when I want to reach up and grab a spice. I like the look of a spice rack on the wall, though I realize that the spices could also be put into a drawer.

Post by vintage on Jan 30, 2018 21:55:37 GMT -8

Oh! (Claps hands) I’ve got one! I’ve got one!I want a small TRIANGULAR-shaped wheelchair. Hear me out. This is for getting into the triangular opening of most car doors. Designers should focus on making a wheelchair that can roll into that small area right beside the passenger-side seat. An additional perk would be providing some way of raising and lowering the height of the wheelchair, so the wheelchair could be adjusted to the same level as the seat that is being accessed.

Further, the designer does not need to focus on making a triangular-shaped wheelchair that is good for long-distance rolling. Mainly, this triangular wheelchair’s purpose is for allowing “me” to get into the vehicle of any friend who drops by. It’s about getting from my house (or bed), out to the street, and into a car. Then, going for a ride in the car, getting out of the car and rolling a few feet into Churches Chicken or El Fenix, eating, and getting back into the car,...going home, gettting out of the car, and back safely into my house (or bed). TRIANGULAR shaped wheelchairs would help a paraplegic get very close to the front seat of a family car, without that huge gap caused by the width of the square wheelchair...trying to jam itself into a triangular space. And make the triangular wheelchair either have a very low back, or else a removable back. This is so that a “helper” can help from behind.Whew!

I went to the Department of Motor Vehicles today. A strong young man had to lift me from my wheelchair and sit me down into the car seat because transferring was just too difficult for me. Necessity is the mother of invention. If I had access to the tools to make one, I would make a triangular wheelchair myself. The triangular wheelchair wouldn’t even have to have the double wheel for pushing it myself. Today, my caregivers took care of pushing me to the car, into the DMV, back out to the car, and back to my house (living room). So, I did very little rolling under my own power, and only because I ‘wanted to’, not because I ‘needed to’. The “getting iinto and out of” the car was the real problem.

OR, make a lightweight wheelchair that allows you to squeeze the front wheels together (or closer together), in order to fit into that triangular space of an open family-car door.

So, young engineers, please see what you can do.

P.S. If the triangular-shaped wheelchair turns out to be too unstable, then a ‘fix’ might be to add some little ‘trainer wheels’ to the front,...to get safely out to the car. Then, one or both trainer wheels could be removed just prior to pushing the chair into the triangular car-door-space.

P.P..S. A way to strap the triangular wheelchair to the passenger seat prior to making the transfer would make any transfer safer. The wheelchair wouldn't be able to scoot away from the car seat, no matter how ungracefully the transfer is done. The strap might go all the way around the car seat, if it is a bucket seat. Then the strap would be removed after the paralyzed person is safely seated.

Post by Lαrα on Jan 31, 2018 14:47:24 GMT -8

I have two ideas, I think there should be retractable elbow crutches, It is an absolute nuiscance taking my crutches with me when I go out. If I am in my chair, I have to hold them inbetween my legs or when I go in a car or out for a meal, they end up dropping on the floor. I have thought about this and wondered if the fact that they would be retractable would weaken them but I think that they should be fine.

Also, I would like soles on my shoes made specifically so they help me to feel the floor...My feet are mostly numb so when I walk, I prefer to walk without shoes so I can feel the floor a little under my feet but of course, this isnt practical outside. Surely there is a material that allows close contact?

Post by moonwalk on Feb 5, 2018 15:45:42 GMT -8

Not much changes has been done on ceiling lifts where most high level quads could use without an aid. Having an lift that has Artificial Intelligence to adapt in measuring the precise location to transfer a patient on and off the chair.

A breathable material that sticks on ones buttocks that’s sensitive to tracking skin break down right when it happens at the biological level.

An x-ray that strong enough to use on my mobile device to collect data of amount of bacteria in my bladder to predict whether I might get an UTI soon.

I workout machine like Vinterglade that sells around $200 and helps burns fat and keeps my weight down.

Those are it for me. I know it’s crazy, but as they say, innovative ideas should be 😜..lol..goodluck!

Post by younggun on Feb 14, 2018 10:58:40 GMT -8

I have two ideas, I think there should be retractable elbow crutches, It is an absolute nuiscance taking my crutches with me when I go out. If I am in my chair, I have to hold them inbetween my legs or when I go in a car or out for a meal, they end up dropping on the floor. I have thought about this and wondered if the fact that they would be retractable would weaken them but I think that they should be fine.

Also, I would like soles on my shoes made specifically so they help me to feel the floor...My feet are mostly numb so when I walk, I prefer to walk without shoes so I can feel the floor a little under my feet but of course, this isnt practical outside. Surely there is a material that allows close contact?

Hi Lara, when you say retractable elbow crutches, do you mean the ones like shown in below image?

And second one, there is already a sole-like material that you can stick to your foot and take a walk. It was being advertised for runners so for us, it should be easy. I saw that on sharktank and also online. I couldnt find it now but google search should help.

Post by younggun on Feb 14, 2018 11:26:43 GMT -8

Not much changes has been done on ceiling lifts where most high level quads could use without an aid. Having an lift that has Artificial Intelligence to adapt in measuring the precise location to transfer a patient on and off the chair.

A breathable material that sticks on ones buttocks that’s sensitive to tracking skin break down right when it happens at the biological level.

An x-ray that strong enough to use on my mobile device to collect data of amount of bacteria in my bladder to predict whether I might get an UTI soon.

I workout machine like Vinterglade that sells around $200 and helps burns fat and keeps my weight down.

Those are it for me. I know it’s crazy, but as they say, innovative ideas should be 😜..lol..goodluck!

Do you really want a material that sticks to buttocks? DJ , I was also thinking about this. I think there would be atleast minor changes in body that could be tracked before any skin breakdown happen. I wanted to work on it but I dont know anyone who would be prone for that.

DJ, fetch data of all calculatable features of human body that we get using fitbit/any other device as such when a person sit for longer period.. when someone is prone to bed sores.. someone is prone to damage their skin at butts. You may find some correlatable analytics to predict. - I am working on this using Raspberry Pi with Pressure and other sensors but I am yet to define anything definite.

UTI prediction.. I believe you could work on it if you wish.. Developing a device something like the one used by girls to test pregnancy. A small device that could calculate all kinds of bacteria levels when someone puts few drops of urine on it, which tells your UTI chances. - I dont have much knowledge in developing chemical products. So never thought of working on this.

about vinterglade.. I was a fitness freak before surgery. Then i thoughy life is just to have fun till I last. So I started eating fatty foods. I love food. But I dont like gaining weight. Recently there is a diet program that is going crazy here in India. It is curbing carbohydrates completely and taking fats so much that your own fat would dissolve to digest input fat. It is working amazingly good with no side effects. I lost 10 kgs in 20 days. So diet combined with normal exercises should be enough to help us reduce weight.

Post by vintage on Feb 14, 2018 13:26:27 GMT -8

We called that diet the Atkins diet here in the US, Younggun. I used it and lost weight with it before my SCI. But some people aren’t healthy enough to use it.

Here’s what I need, DJ. And please hurry. Lol.I had surgery at an outpatient clinic and had to go to the bathroom. Yes, it was my first time to have to change my diaper in a public restroom. Though the restroom was extremely clean and large enough to roll around in, there was no sink with water in it. There was also no table or bench. I need to lean far over sideways to get my diaper off or on. I double-cleaned the toilet seat so that I could lean over on it. SURPRIZE! It was one of those toilets that flush automatically when you just come near it, so of course, I couldn’t lean over onto it. It took me a half hour to change that diaper. The worst part was that I absolutely could not get the diaper over directly underneath of me. I just couldn’t do it. I needed either a third hand or an aide, neither of which did I have. So, the diaper was under me, but off to one side,...not an efficient configuration.

For my next time out, I need a portable version of the Pants Up Easy that I can either carry with me in a bag, or that attaches to my wheelchair. It doesn’t have to allow me to lift myself up very high,.. any help at all might have done the trick.